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Help me, I'm thinking of quitting

Congratulations.

Remember, after you enjoy the well earned enjoyment of this accomplishment, that what you have is a licens to learn.

This is the beginning.
 
Your post made it sound more like you're concerned more about what others think about your flying than you do - pilots fly because they want to and they enjoy it - and for many, they hope they can get a job someday.

You have to search deep inside yourself and really think about why you want to fly - if you're ready to give it up because your friends can't or won't fly with you then you really don't want to fly that badly yourself. Same with your parents, if they want you to do something else and you agree to that, you may not be happy with that decision later in life - so you have to do what YOU want to do and do what's in your heart.

From your initial post it sounds to me like your heart isn't really into it, but I hope I'm wrong. You're more interested in what others think about your flying than what you think about your flying.
 
CONGRATULATIONS!

I'll say it, screw your parents, yeah you only got one set, but don't screw your entire life, doing some miserable job, even if that is being a doctor, or lawyer, whatever.

I'd understand if your mother started crying because you just joined the service, or announced you were going into the adult film industry. Cried because you said I want to be a pilot? Maybe she was involved with a pilot before she met your dad, then it is understandable ;)

My dad wanted me to be a doctor, at the very least a lawyer, I didn't have it in me to do all that, and just wanted to fly. I wanted to fly, I am flying, I am extremely lucky, the first flyer in my family. I think this is kind of a barrier in some regards, my uncle went to U of I and when my grandparents found out he was in the aviation program, they yanked him out and sent him to Loyola in Chicago.

Every single time a plane crashed, anywhere, and it made the news, especially in the Chicago area, I'd hear about it for a week. That's gonna be you, you're gonna get killed, blah blah blah. Now I just have my brothers asking me if I am going to go do a kamikaze run like that kid in Tampa, or drop a sack of cement on so and so's house. People who really aren't into aviation, don't get it.

You get it, don't give up, it may even be awhile, a few years even before you have the money, and time to get your instrument rating, and even longer before you take a commercial checkride.



@JediNein, and anyone else with the same experience.

I soloed? Does that mean they let you fly the airplane? Nobody cared, so what, wow great, how much more is it going to cost to get the actual license? They cut up your shirt, what, why, they better get you a new one! OTHER guys who soloed had their entire families there, like it was some kinda big deal, like he graduated from college or something. Pretty much the same when I took my private checkride, went home, took a nap, went out to dinner with my mom, and my aunt, since it was her birthday the next day, Wooopie!
 
Congrats!

I'm coming into this thread late, but if you're still checking this thread, congratulations on your decision and accomplishment.

Your original post sounded so familiar. My parents wanted me to do practically anything but go into aviation, although I don't think my Mom was as uptight about it as yours appears to be.

Just my thoughts: Things sometimes have a way of working out. If you pursue what you want to do and succeed at it, your parents just might come to share & appreciate your accomplishment. If not, what's wrong with having a good (non-flying) job and boring holes in the sky by yourself on the weekends & days off? That's what some of my former students do, and I almost envy them at times!

Best of luck with whatever comes next.
 
Think of flying, for vocation or hobby, as personal development and fulfillment. If you give it your best, and approach it professionally, it will make you a better person, and you will not be able to conceive of doing anything else.

And be sure to marry a smart, patient, financially stable spouse. It will definitely take two incomes to raise your family, and pay for the child care while you are on the road 8-12 nights a month. And don't forget to take him/her flying occasionally, to ensure they understand.

Good Luck
 
Metro752 said:
@JediNein, and anyone else with the same experience.

I soloed? Does that mean they let you fly the airplane? Nobody cared, so what, wow great, how much more is it going to cost to get the actual license? They cut up your shirt, what, why, they better get you a new one!
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Heyas,

Yep, I'm going to have to go with Metro here. To most of the world, they could give just about 2 sh!ts.

These days, most people are only interested in what looks flashy and gives instant gratification with the least risk. A Hummer is the principal modern expression of that.

Anything that requires more than two synapses firing in sequence, like flying, and most people will tune you right out...they're more interested in what trouble Paris has gotten into lately.

I wouldn't worry about what other people think. Flying is more for the person who would tinker with their old TR-6 than the dude down the street who bought a new hog 'cause it "looked cool", then laid it down because he didn't think about learning how to ride it.

Nu
 
Forget the airlines. I fly charter and am paid better than some of those guys and having a blast. A few airline guys have come here and like it a lot better than their previous jobs. I concur, there are a lot of different ways to earn a buck than the airlines. Oh yeah and most importantly, and not in this post but this site is the most negative place to find info on becoming a pilot. I didn't know my life and job sucked until I came on here.
 
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Congrats on the PPL! That is one heck of an accompolishment that most people aren't capable of for one reason or another.

Regarding career choices, I'm a 30 year old CFI that used to be a desk jockey. I have an engineering degree and used to be in meetings or sitting in front of a computer. Absolutely HATED it and couldn't wait to get out. Lucky for me, I kept plugging away at my ratings and flew whenever I could. I paid cash for everything, and made the switch from "Office Space" clone to aviation in June. I have never worked so hard at a job or been so happy. It's great!

A lot of my friends that I was nuts, but then again they hate their jobs and I love mine.
 
Stay at your current university. Don't get an aviation related degree. You don't need those school/industry connection nowadays. Go to a mom and pop flight school, instruct there awhile, lead into multiengine job then airlines. There, I just saved you thousands of dollars and lots of wasted time. You'll have your other degree to fall back on if your tired of this industry. Hey, it happens!
 
Your mom is BS-ing you. She's not going to distance herself from you. She might be upset for a couple of months, but she'll eventually get over it and tell all her friends that her son is an airline pilot. Parents don't work that way. And if you make a life altering career decision based on this kind of empty threat, your setting yourself up to be walked all over for the rest of your life.

polaris746 said:
My dad's argument was that with the education I'm getting at a top-15 university I can do something a lot better with a more predictable lifestyle.
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I went to the No.2 Public University in the Country. I sit right seat on an ATR. Who cares? Now, if you spent a quarter million dollars on a Harvard MBA, this would be a diff. story.

Do what you feel like doing or you'll regret it. At least your pops said he'd support your decision.
 
polaris746 said:
I'm a student pilot who has his checkride schedule for next week. Now I'm thinking of calling the whole thing off and quitting flying.

Until a few months ago, my dream was to become an airline pilot. However my parents were strongly against it. My dad's argument was that with the education I'm getting at a top-15 university I can do something a lot better with a more predictable lifestyle. He said that he will support anything I do, so if I choose to become an airline pilot he will support me, but I would have to transfer to an aviation college. Then I wasn't so sure.

My mom hates flying and the concept of my flying freaks her out. Ever since I could speak she has told me that I can be anything I want when I grow up as long as it wasn't a pilot. She just hates flying and, my being her only child, worries about me so much that she just can't stand it. She told me that if I were to fly for hire, she would have to distance herself from me because as things were now she'd be too worried. After thinking things over I've decided against airline flying and forced myself to consider it strictly as a hobby.

Now that I near the end of my training I've been asking my friends if they want to come along with me for a day trip to Nantucket or NYC or something so I can share the flying experience with them. They said they'd love to come but after hearing the pro-rata cost, they can't afford it. My rich friends don't trust small planes (can't blame them) and don't feel like paying to risk their lives so they refused, leaving me with no one to go flying with except by myself. I asked my parents, but they seemed reluctant to pay $500 to go sightseeing when they can very easily drive for $10. My dad is a consultant who travels to DC a lot and said that I can fly him there but GA can't land at DCA and without an IFR rating I can't risk delaying him due to weather.

So I'm stuck here wondering, even after I get my license (that's $1300 more - DE fee, plane rental, long solo XC, hood time), what the hell is the use for it? I can't share my experience with anyone I know and I can't be a commerical pilot so I'd pay for it all (and I mean ALL) my flight time to spend alone-time up in the sky. That's so freaking sad. I can be a safety pilot and bulid time, you say. I don't want to build time. I want to fly people I care about and let them experience being in the sky. But I can't.

Wouldn't it be better off saving the $1300 and just quit? I just don't see a use.

I wanted to get my instrument rating, but I don't have the money to get the 50 XC PIC time anyway, and no one wants to share that with me. I want to get my commercial certificate, but my mom cries every time I mention piloting for hire.

It feels like I've been pursing the love of my life for the past 7 months and realizing that she doesn't love me back. Except the dinner cost was $15,000.
Click to expand...
Listen to your parents aviation sux>
 
First off congrats on the new certificate. At some point you're going to have to cut the cord and do what makes you happy (not your mom), and it made you sound like a momma's boy btw; However maybe its the fact that you mom doesn't know much about aviation and find its "scarry?" People tend to fear the unknown. If not i'm sure you and your pops can have a blast flying together. I've been flying for the past 7 years and its been a long road, but rewarding nonetheless, and have a job that i can say is rewarding and definetly better than jobs my friends currently have because it really doesnt feel like "work." Through all your ratings you'll meet people around the airport and make friends so dont worry about,"Not having someone to fly with." I'd say get flight sim if you don't already, best cheap thrills ever!! see ya!
 
Take your mother flying. My mother hated the idea of me flying. She finally flew with me (No turns were allowed). A few years later she jumped out of the plane I was flying at 12,000'.
 
navigator72 said:
Take your mother flying. My mother hated the idea of me flying. She finally flew with me (No turns were allowed). A few years later she jumped out of the plane I was flying at 12,000'.
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I can second that......although my mother never jumped out of an airplane. haha.

About 15 years ago my sisters' best friend was killed in a "small" plane crash only a week before her senior prom. While I was young at the time I still remember the funeral like it was yesterday.

Needless to say, both my sister and my mother were VERY anti- "little planes". My family knew that I wanted to be a pilot long before the death of my sister's friend. My mom always knew that if I wanted to be a pilot, I would have to fly small airplanes. She wasn't thrilled but supported me. My dad flew with me the day I passed my private checkride....it took a little longer for my mom to warm up to it. One day both me and my parents went to the airport. My dad and I were going to go flying; but, my mom was along just to watch and take some pictures. When my dad and I landed my mom suprised us both by asking if she could go up for a short ride.

About three years later my sister and brother-in-law were at a openhouse/grand-opening party for a second location for the school I was teaching for. My sister surprised me even more when she hesitantly asked if we could go up. Not only did my sister go; but, she also let both my neices come along for the ride too. After we landed she was asking when we would be able to go again and actually "go somewhere". My sister is the LAST person on earth who I ever though would get into a small plane. I knew that my mom would eventually just to support me; but, my sister can be a stubborn woman....not to mention scared to death of small planes.

Moral of the story....family is family and will support you with what you want to do. It may takes some time and patience; but, a lot of people can and do overcome their fear of small planes. Some peoples fear, like my sister losing her life long best friend, is legitimate and understandable. Other people are just ignorant and believe what they see on tv or what other people tell them...and refuse to see another perspective. No matter what the case may be...enthusiasm combined with professionalism and change a lot of minds. But, unfortunately, there are the minds that can never be changed. I look at it as their loss. They'll never feel the rush that we do, never see the sunsets and sunrises the way we see the,, and never get to visit some of the places that we do. Therefore, take extra pride in it yourself and embrace every moment. The thrill can be gone overnight for any of us. All it takes is one bad trip to the AME.

I know that the thread starter did in fact go on to recieve their private. My above post is directed at everyone because we ALL come across the "little plane" haters.
 
polaris,
i got into flying late at 26 and did it as a challenge and release to a sales career. ten years later i found myself in a regional turborpop...loving every minute of it.

my wife hates lttle planes. in fact, i was going to suprise her and take her on a trip to the caribbean with me(she had accused me of not being romantic enough) when i told her she had a seat...she freaked.
didn't go...with me

we celebrated our 16th wed ann the other night. i did take my kids flying this summer and they were in awe in a baron and how fast we got to the beach. i couldn't take them on a vacation, but they dipped their feet in the water.

lesson: i live with a paranoid, frady cat. somtimes i wish i had a 26 yr old regional fo chick for a wife, but that ain't happening...kids love it... learn to deal with your loved ones fears and keep going. DON'T LET ANYONE DEPRIVE OR HINDER YOU FROM RECEIVING GOD'S TOTAL BLESSING FOR YOU IN THIS LIFE. i never thought i'd fly a jet, but it has been a dream fulfilled. that is the awesome part of it. i didn't think it was part of my life plan, but circumstances and events have let me enjoy this sometimes bumpy, but oh so awesome ride. it really ain't about the money, i can make it mowing lawns or selling used copiers, or any other way. you pay the bills. sometimes we have in our midst people that could possibly hinder our joy and happiness, don't feel guilty, just calmly pursue what you feel that quiet, inner voice saying.
don't apologize, no guilt for making them cry, just fly !!
 

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